Influential Women Speak Out on the Election

You may hold on to your tickets as they will be valid for the rescheduled show.  We will notify you with updated details of the new show very soon.  Alternatively you may request a refund through TicketMaster at this time.

The battle for marriage equality in the US will be far from over even after this election.  And, we hope you'll join us in the future as we continue the fight for social justice with the beauty of music.  Our beneficiary organization Freedom to Marry is doing everything possible to support the ballot campaigns in the four states in the last week before the election.  You can help by making calls for Mainers United for Marriage and Washington United for Marriage without ever even leaving your couch. Just sign up, and an organizer in Maine or Washington will help get you started.  Sign up at these links:

http://www.freedomtomarry.org/page/s/callmaine

http://www.freedomtomarry.org/page/s/callWA

Additionally we will keep you posted on 'Freedom To Love Now!' developments and other projects at www.freedomtolovenow.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FreedomToLoveNow

October 3oth live at the Beacon Theatre 8pm

Inaugural Marriage Equality concert featuring too many artists to mention here.  Freedom To Love Now a concert for marriage equality.

A very special discount for those of you that still need to get your tickets to the Concert on October 30th at the Beacon Theater!

The 15% off discount code is: OCT30NOW  

Get your tickets here: http://freedomtolovenow.com/tickets

see you there!

August 10, 1846 the United States Congress passed legislation creating the Smithsonian Institution.

Smithsonian Folkways mission is the legacy of Moses Asch, who founded Folkways Records in 1948 to document "people's music," spoken word, instruction, and sounds from around the world. The Smithsonian acquired Folkways from the Asch estate in 1987, and Smithsonian Folkways Recordings has continued the Folkways commitment to cultural diversity, education, increased understanding, and lively engagement with the world of sound.

from Writers almanac Friday Aug 10 Garrison Keiller  

It was on this date in 1846 that the United States Congress passed legislation creating the Smithsonian Institution.

James Smithson was an English scientist. He was also the illegitimate son of a nobleman and a widow who was related to the royal family. He was born in secret in Paris, and though he inherited a lot of money from his mother, his illegitimacy kept him from any of the social or career advantages that his family connections might have given him. He once wrote, "On my father's side I am a Northumberland, on my mother's I am related to kings, but this avails me not." He never married, and spent his life traveling and getting to know some of the greatest scientific minds of Europe. He believed scientists should be "citizens of the world," and wrote, "It is in knowledge that man has found his greatness and his happiness." Smithson published more than two dozen papers on a wide variety of subjects.

Shortly before his death in 1829, he bequeathed his estate to his nephew. But if the nephew died childless, Smithson wrote, then the money was to go to the United States for the foundation of an institution for "the increase and diffusion of knowledge." The nephew died without any heirs in 1835.

The bequest sparked a debate in Washington between the Federalists and the supporters of states' rights. The states' rights people argued that the Constitution didn't make any provisions for a national institution. But the Federalists won out, and in 1838, the entire estate, worth more than half a million dollars, was transferred to the United States Mint. The debate didn't end with the Federalists' victory, though. For nearly a decade, people argued about what he meant by the "increase and diffusion of knowledge." Did he mean a university? If so, what kind? Did he mean an observatory, a research institute, a publishing house, a national library, or a museum?

In the end, it became all of those things, with the exception of the university. The Smithsonian complex now includes museums of natural history, American history, fine and decorative arts, and air and space technology: 16 museums in all. It also encompasses four research centers, a research library, and the National Zoo.

Smithsonian Folkways Mission

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution, the national museum of the United States. We are dedicated to supporting cultural diversity and increased understanding among peoples through the documentation, preservation, and dissemination of sound. We believe that musical and cultural diversity contributes to the vitality and quality of life throughout the world. Through the dissemination of audio recordings and educational materials we seek to strengthen people's engagement with their own cultural heritage and to enhance their awareness and appreciation of the cultural heritage of others.

Our mission is the legacy of Moses Asch, who founded Folkways Records in 1948 to document "people's music," spoken word, instruction, and sounds from around the world. The Smithsonian acquired Folkways from the Asch estate in 1987, and Smithsonian Folkways Recordings has continued the Folkways commitment to cultural diversity, education, increased understanding, and lively engagement with the world of sound.

Our History

Folkways Records & Service Co. was incorporated in 1948 in New York City by Moses Asch (1905-1986) and Marian Distler (1919-1964). Under Asch's enthusiastic and dedicated direction, Folkways sought to record and document the entire world of sound. Between 1948 and Asch's death, Folkways' tiny staff released 2,168 albums. Topics included traditional, ethnic, and contemporary music from around the world; poetry, spoken word, and instructional recordings in numerous languages; and documentary recordings of individuals, communities, current events, and natural sounds.

As one of the first record companies to offer albums of "world music," and as an early exponent of the singers and songwriters who formed the core of the American folk music revival (including such giants as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Lead Belly), Asch's Folkways grew to become one of the most influential record companies in the world.

Following Asch's death, in 1987 the Smithsonian Institution Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage in Washington D.C. acquired Folkways Recordings and the label's business papers and files to ensure that the sounds and genius of its artists would continue to be available to future generations.

As a condition of the acquisition, the Smithsonian agreed that virtually all of the firm's 2,168 titles would remain "in print" forever—a condition that Smithsonian Folkways continues to honor through its custom order service. Whether it sells 8,000 copies each year or only one copy every five years, every Folkways title remains available for purchase.

In the years since 1987, Smithsonian Folkways has continued to expand on Asch's legacy, adding several other record labels to the collections and releasing over 375 new recordings that document and celebrate the sounds of the world around us.

A Worldwide Educational Online Download Network

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings launched its Smithsonian Global Sound®educational initiative in 2005. This unique online resource delivers easy access to tens of thousands of audio recordings and hundreds of video features from the U.S. national museum's Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections (which includes Smithsonian Folkways) and content from partner archives including the International Library of African Music at Willard Rhodes University (South Africa), the Archives and Research Centre for Ethnomusicology of the American Institute for Indian Studies (India), the Aga Khan Music Initiative for Central Asia of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (Central Asia) and others still to come.

Listening and viewing are enhanced by extensive documentation, indexing and search capabilities, including in-depth features in the online Smithsonian Folkways Magazine and educational resources in the Tools for Teaching section 

Today, the website www.folkways.si.edu and all of Smithsonian Global Sound's features have been strengthened and renewed within a single website Smithsonian Folkways offers downloads and streaming video, tools for teaching, in-depth features, and institutional subscriptions (via Alexander Street Press) to Music Online/Smithsonian Global Sound® for Libraries. The initiative provides unparalleled accessibility to less-often heard voices of people from all over the world. Smithsonian Folkways will continue to partner with other audio archives worldwide to increase global, digital access.

The revenue received from you for individual downloads and institutional subscriptions supports the creation of new educational content and is shared with archival partners, who in turn pass on a portion of those revenues for the benefit of artists and their communities. The development of this initiative was made possible by generous support from the Rockefeller Foundation, the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation and folkwaysAlive! at the University of Alberta.

listen to Folkways Radio

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Laura Hankin grew up in Washington DC, but since 2010 has been enjoying a passionate, live-in relationship with New York City. She graduated from Princeton University with a major in psychology and a minor in theater. In addition to GALO, she writes regularly for The Artist’s Forum, and has been published in The Washington Post and The Daily Princetonian. As a performer, she has toured the United States in a musical for children, acted off-Broadway, and sung back-up for The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Karen O. She's not quite sure where she'll end up, but she hopes to spend more time talking to interesting people and passing on their stories to the world. In her free time, she attempts to teach herself how to play guitar, bakes a lot of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, and likes to read as much as possible.

from GaloMagazine.com Global Arts Laid Out, an interesting article on subway performers

Featured in GaloMagazine.com Global Arts Laid Out

By Laura Hankin:

One cold morning in 2007, a man stood inside the entrance of a Washington, D.C. subway station and played the violin. Occasionally, the people walking by tossed money into his violin case or, in extremely rare instances, stopped for a minute to listen.  Mostly, they kept going, eyes fixed anywhere but on him. Playing for a mobile audience of 1,000 people over the course of 45 minutes, the violinist made $37. That violinist was Joshua Bell, widely regarded as one of America’s best and most famous classical music interpreters.

The now-notorious experiment, conducted by The Washington Post to determine whether a person’s innate appreciation for beauty could override their rush hour routine, called attention to the plight of subway buskers. Five years later, in New York City, these performers are a familiar sight to anyone who rides the train. Passing from one track to another, commuters might find themselves caught in the glorious cacophony that can arise from the exertions of a single drummer, his beats echoing off the walls. Doo-wop groups set up shop mere feet from where the trains pull in. Most days of the week, a mariachi band executes a delicate balancing act, the members playing their way through the moving MTA cars. A guy with a didgeridoo confounds neophytes to Australian aboriginal music with the duck-like sounds he produces. But in a world where people increasingly glue themselves to the phones in their hands and the music pounding from their headphones, how do performers reach them, either to give them a transcendent musical experience or to convince them to drop a crumpled bill into a tip jar so that rent can be paid on time?

For some performers, the keys to a successful experience are straightforward. “I think Joshua Bell picked a stupid spot and the worst time,” says fellow violinist Filip Pogady, alluding to the fact that Bell played in a passageway during rush hour. “You need five minutes to convince people you’re good while they have to wait for the train.”

Pogady, who came from Slovakia to earn a Master’s degree at the Manhattan School of Music, initially started street performing for fun with friends. In the third year of his Master’s program, however, he realized that busking could be a powerful tool for exposure. “Everyone passes through the subway, people who wouldn’t normally get to hear you,” he says. Now, in addition to playing professional gigs and teaching violin, he performs frequently in stations, complex classical pieces emanating from his instrument with ease. He has come to know the stations where the money flows freely (“The East Side is just terrible,” while the best spots “are usually the touristy ones,” he says) and learned not to look directly at people as he plays, so he doesn’t make them uncomfortable. If a couple of people stop to listen, it’s easier to build a crowd drawn by the spectacle.

Ron Wingate, who has made singing and playing guitar in subway stations his primary job since 2001, jokes with the people standing on the platform with him, and high-fives children who drop money into his case. “I’ve gotten so comfortable with what I do,” he says, “and I’ve learned techniques so that, at the end of the night, I’m going to have some money, and the people who pass my way are going to have a good time.”

But even once performers learn the ropes, setbacks abound. A gulf of misunderstanding stretches between the police officers who patrol the NYC subways and the musicians who play there. Three different policemen, none of whom gave their names, maintained that the law forbids all performance in the subway, unless artists obtain a special permit. Buskers can apply for an audition with the city and, if deemed talented enough, they get to perform under a legitimizing banner in certain locations at set times every week. These policemen said they usually only gave warnings to banner-less musicians, but could arrest them if they wanted. Yet the section entitled “Entertaining on the Subway” on the New York Police Department (NYPD) Web site states that “artistic performances on transit facilities are permitted” as long as they abide by a laundry list of rules forbidding amplification, specifying the number of feet performers must stay from token booths, and so on. Police officers have ticketed Wingate multiple times over the past eleven years, even though his actions were not violating any of the laws listed on the Web site. He estimates that he has been to court ten times, always successfully fighting his way out of paying the tickets given by cops who were unfamiliar with the rules. Morgan O’Kane, whose banjo playing produces more sound than one would expect to come from just ten fingers, says, “I’m chased and harassed by police all the time. It has become part of the job,” although he has also had positive experiences with cops who bought the CDs he was selling and listened to him play for hours.

Sometimes, more straightforward law-breaking occurs. Minhao Lu, who came to subway performing after many years of working in electronics manufacturing, and who elicits sweet, wrenching sounds from the minimal-looking Chinese violin he plays, once had to chase after a couple of young men who stole his full tip jar. He keeps the iPod that plays his backing tracks strapped to his knee, so that no one can easily grab it. And although there’s nothing illegal in mockery or neglect, it’s hard to keep spirits high when countless people pass by without a second glance, or make overtly snide comments. A 2011 New York Times piece by Aaron Retica asked, only partly in jest, “If a bad musician on the subway damages my train trip, may I take a couple of dollars from his case?”

Still, it’s hard to find commuters who will publicly admit to disliking these hard-working musicians. Most enjoy and move on, like actress Carol Linnea Johnson, whose young daughter always asks, in anticipation of taking the subway, “Is someone going to entertain us?” Pre-school teacher Julissa asserts that “it makes waiting for the train much easier,” although she rarely gives money. Others, like filmmaker Matt Finlin, feel the effects in more momentous ways. Upon moving to NYC and “navigating the chaotic arteries of the subway system,” he realized that performers always put a smile on his face. His ode to them, the short documentary film Below New York, has now won awards worldwide, and continues to play the film festival circuit.

In some scenarios, buskers receive big, tangible rewards for their hard work. O’Kane, who was featured prominently in Below New York, now sells his music on iTunes, and has embarked upon a European tour, none of which would have happened without him honing his banjo skills in the subway. Wingate has been flown to France and Australia for gigs he landed playing on platforms. Sometimes, Lu gets flowers. Girls drop their phone numbers into Pogady’s violin case. But the less glitzy, incorporeal benefits add up too. Tarah Williams and Alana Kelley, college students who sing cheerfully while accompanying themselves on guitar and ukulele to make pocket money, echo the feelings of many buskers when they talk of the enormous fulfillment they feel when children dance along to their music or when they notice that they’ve made a positive change to someone’s day. And, according to Wingate, who toured for many years as a guitarist in multiple bands, “Before I got to NYC, I didn’t even have a personality ‘cause my smile onstage was painted on. Playing on the subway taught me to be an entertainer. If I was playing on Broadway, I’d have the best pay and benefits, but I wouldn’t have the freedom to stop and talk to people.”

When Wingate first got to NYC, he lost six pounds in two weeks because he couldn’t afford to both pay his rent and eat. Now, he makes enough money performing in the subway to support himself. It’s not always the most glamorous job, and buskers can never count on a steady income. But, on occasion, Wingate earns $100 an hour from the people passing by. Eat your heart out, Joshua Bell.

written by Laura Hankin Through the Turnstile: Subway Performing in NYC 

We are not a great nation until all of us are strong.

here's an excerpt follow this link to read the whole blog:

October 7, 2011

Dear [Paternal, Maternal & In-Law] Extended Families,

As many of you may know (or may have noticed on Facebook!) I’ve been getting really super excited about all this “We Are the 99%” and “Occupy Wall Street” stuff.  Coincidentally as these protests have been spreading, it’s been at the same time that we’re covering the American Revolution, the French Revolution and the Haitian Revolution and all of the incomplete uprisings before and after each one in the community college history classes I teach.  Its making me remember that no one knew the Storming of the Bastille was going to happen a week or even a day before it did.  Of course during the French Rev, few people were talking about slavery in French colonies, the French role in taking Native lands and women were written out of the Declaration of the Rights of Man.  And the French Revolution began and ended in terrible violence, which is something I don’t want to see again.... read on

Because we can do a little better....

By Erin Mchugh:

Welcome to the blog that mirrors the eponymous book I’m writing: a journey of one year, performing ONE GOOD DEED a day for one year. I’ll post a couple of the deeds per week here, and hope you all will enjoy the reading, or, better yet, join me in trying to do just a little bit better, one day at a time. And if you do, recount them here, would you? I’d enjoy seeing them.

Erin McHugh is a former publishing executive and author of twenty books, including the brand new snarky midterm elections volume COFFEE, TEA OR KOOL-AID: Which Party Politics Are You Swallowing?, and THE L LIFE: Extraordinary Lesbians Making a Difference, a photo essay on lesbian heroines. She lives in New York City and South Dartmouth, Massachusetts.

Follow Erin McHugh on Facebook or on Twitter as @ErinHere.

I found his post online about NYC musicians in the subway.  As a performer with MUNY since 1999 I find the unique environment of performing as part of the daily soundtrack compelling and engaging. It's certainly never boring.  I find NY'ers generous with their spirit as much as with their coins.  Thanks for the post

by Christopher Roberts Mathews

The tension between art and commerce has a storied history, but nowhere is it more conspicuous as the New York City Subway. The city’s underground teems with musicians, artists, and performers soliciting donations for their work.

Some, like singer and ukulele player Crow Joe Ryan, make their living from the coins and dollar bills subway riders toss into his tin. Others use the forum to promote their careers above ground.

These public performers call themselves “buskers,” a word derived from the Spanish verb “buscar” meaning “to seek.” They’re somewhat of an anachronism in a world where hit songs can be downloaded for under a dollar, but are more often procured for free.

With the various business models that musicians have come to rely on buckling under the pressures of the internet and the explosion of the number of forms of entertainment, busking has stayed more or less the same. “I haven’t noticed any difference,” in the amount or kinds of people who play in the subway says violist Willy Naess, who has been busking in New York for ten years.

It seems odd that in a world where world-famous musicians have trouble convincing their fans to spend 99 cents for a professionally-produced hit song that amateurs could make any money at all playing in the subway. But there is something about a musician confronting you with their art that seems to motivate people to donate money. “I think some people appreciate another human being putting themselves out there and trying to contribute something of beauty to the work day of New York,” suggests Elizabeth Rogers, a busker associated with Music Under New York (MUNY), a program run by the Metropolitan Transit Authority which auditions and selects over 100 musicians to put on weekly performances in the some of the busiest subway stops in New York.

MUNY has been promoting music in the subway since 1985 and has “garnered great enthusiasm from the commuting public,” according to its website. Performers selected for the program are given personalized banners to display where they perform, but their compensation is no different than any other busker: what passersby deem to throw their way.

Glenn Roth, a fingerstyle guitarist and MUNY performer, sees benefits far beyond the few dollars he makes in an afternoon of playing. Playing in highly visible locations like Union Square is “the best free advertisement there is out there,” he says. Roth plays several gigs a week, including weddings, corporate events and club dates, but he says the subway is one of the best places to attract new fans and sell CDs.

The subway is a unique place in modern society where people are relatively undistracted. Most riders are cut off from the internet while underground. They commute armed with just a book or their thoughts to entertain them. Naess uses this dynamic to his advantage. He traverses the subway cars themselves playing Bach cello suites, finding he makes more in the confines of the car then when he used to play on the platform. He sees people giving money for a variety of reasons: some people are just generous, but others are pleasantly surprised to hear classical music on their commutes. “People say to me, ‘that was actually really good. I wasn’t expecting to give you anything, but here’s a dollar.”

Rogers believes that busking is unique in the personal connection it can foster between a musician and an audience. Passengers aren’t expecting to hear something that moves them, that makes them pause and reflect. “We live such busy lives, and people tend to just go go go. I’m doing something to help someone slow down a moment and notice this moment . . . to support them to just be there.”

posted 11/23/2010

Christopher Roberts Matthews blogs about money and music 

This year I worked on balancing femininity and masculinity in my gardening.

I think that finding a way to incorporate both sides into my design ultimately makes for a more inviting space.

Striking the right balance has been a tough process for me.Sometimes I don't get a chance to work on my ideas with other gardeners because someone might be more inclined to sway in one direction.

This year I was involved in a gardening battle with my family, although I get into an altercation every year because it's so much fun. I wanted to drastically dig out half of the plants in the garden that seemed too feminine (flowering plants) and replace them with bolder foliage plants.

I ended up digging them out at night with my mom holding a flashlight for me so I wouldn't get caught behind enemy lines.

I'm very happy with the results.  

My brothers have been a great help to me when I need a guys' opinion.If I'm having difficulty with a color scheme or choosing plants for a more masculine look, I'll ask them for help.

I needed a new container for paper whites this year and couldn't find something I liked.

I asked Chris for suggestions and he gave me an old ammunition canister to use.    Fabulous.

By Heather Grimes:

Tomato Pickles! A few years ago my friend Leslie introduced me to these little sour/salty wonders.

Gone are the days of watching all those green tomatoes go to waste when the frost hits.   Now I have the power to save them from a cell bursting, squashy death.   To give them a proper use like all good tomatoes should have.

My sister Rachel helped me process 16 mason full of beautiful home grown tomatoes and garlic today.   We hope to make up more tomorrow so we can have a refrigerator full of pickles this winter.   

Here is the recipe I use for my tomato pickles.   Chow.

blog and image Heather Grimes